WD-40

Company Facts
• Location: Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
• Industry: Global Consumer Products Company
• Number of Employees: Over 300
• Web site: http://www.wd40company.com
"The fact that TIE Kinetix can directly communicate with our customers in local language is worth its weight in gold."
Jonathan McCoy, General Manager-I.T. | WD-40 Company

We all know it, this famous multi-purpose problem solver. It is said that four out of five households have a can or two around the house. WD-40 was created in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company.

It took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40-which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try-is still in use in many households and companies today. In 1969 the company was renamed after its only product, WD-40 Company, Inc.

Success brings along challenges

The continued success of the company lead to new product development, growth, and international expansion. In a fast pace offices were set up all over the world including many European countries, Australia and China. The European distributor network has grown to include distributors in 37 countries.

Along with the success came some challenges, especially in streamlining processes. Each group within WD-40 Company used its own systems, making process alignment difficult, while order volumes were increasing rapidly. Some countries even doubled in size!

Time to realign processes and tools

At the European headquarters in the United Kingdom, WD-40 General Manager-I.T., Jonathan McCoy realized that steps needed to be taken to overcome these challenges and manage the growth of the business. The UK office was using an old but stable EDI system. Since more and more customers demand the use of EDI the WD-40 Company ERP and message flow integration makes WD-40 geared for growth other European offices needed to be set up on EDI as well. At the same time the Epicor iScala ERP system needed to be updated so it seemed like a perfect time to realign processes and tools.

WD-40 was looking to improve the European-wide EDI set up. The EDI solution should have the capacity to cope with the continuous growth of the business. On top of that, it needed to be closely integrated with the updated version of the Epicor ERP system, E9, that WD-40 was planning to implement. From the selection of vendors WD-40 was looking at, TIE Kinetix offered the best solution. Not purely based on cost but on the allround package they offered. Especially the partnership with Epicor and their ability to integrate with both Epicor iScala and E9 ERP systems influenced WD-40's decision to choose TIE Kinetix.

Eventually WD-40 thought they had to wait with implementing the EDI solution until the migration to E9 was completed but TIE Kinetix convinced them otherwise. By integrating the EDI system with iScala first WD-40 could enjoy all benefits of EDI right away. In the meantime, the E9 EDI integration is being set up. To ensure a smooth transition customers are connected in parallel now. They will not even notice the change when E9 goes live.

"TIE Kinetix has the EDI expertise and Epicor ERP knowledge to guarantee great results now and a smooth transition once we are ready to go live with E9. In addition, the fact that TIE Kinetix can directly communicate with our customers in local language is worth its weight in gold," said Jonathan McCoy

Managing expectations helps to improve customer experience

In the European roll out of the EDI system, TIE Kinetix takes care of connecting new customers. The direct communication between WD-40's customers and TIE Kinetix has led to a better customer experience. Expectations are managed better than before and issues can be solved much quicker.

Jonathan McCoy said: "Previously we would say we do it in 4 weeks and it would take us 12 weeks, now we say we do it in 6 to 8 weeks and it takes us 6 to 8 weeks, so we are living up to the expectation. That's one of the things TIE Kinetix helps us to do. It takes a lot of stress away from me and increases my credibility internally as well as externally."

SaaS Managed Services keeps expertise close at hand

WD-40 Company is a lean organization and they like to keep it that way. Therefore they do not have the desire to keep all expertise in house. TIE Kinetix 's EDI SaaS solution fully supports this philosophy. Even when doubling the business there's no need to hire additional personnel to keep EDI running smoothly because TIE Kinetix takes care of that.

Massive time savings and improved processes

Using EDI has already lead to massive time saving at WD-40. The improved processes and tight integration with their ERP system has led to increased efficiency, improved communication and a better customer experience.

About WD-40 Company

WD-40 Company, with headquarters in San Diego, is a global consumer product company dedicated to delivering unique, highvalue and easy-to-use solutions for a wide variety of maintenance needs of "doer" and "on-the-job" users by leveraging and building the brand fortress of the company. WD-40 Company markets its products in more than 160 countries worldwide and recorded sales of $343 million in fiscal year 2012.

About Epicor

Epicor Software Corporation is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industries. With more than 40 years of experience, Epicor has more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries. Epicor solutions enable companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability. With a history of innovation, industry expertise and passion for excellence, Epicor inspires customers to build lasting competitive advantage. Epicor provides the single point of accountability that local, regional, and global businesses demand. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.

Success Highlights:

Challenges

• Needed an enterprise package that could grow with the company, was fully integrated with the capability to span all departments

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